Originally Posted by
Brickfire
What’s your total time? Any 121 or turbine?
No 121, no turbine.
As far as total time, the simple answer is that I can document 1,050/100, plus maybe as much as 300 more. I switched to an electronic logbook in 2005 but after five moves I can't find the CPU it was on and it's not backed up anywhere I can find. The company verifies they don't have any data. My paper logbooks have the R-ATP minimums, which ERAU's Records and Registration verifies I qualify for. I have some emails out to former students who I flew with a lot and expect to dig up another 50–300 hours. I actually have over 2,000 hours, but that's beside the point in terms of my application on paper, though I do believe I gained important knowledge and skills from those extra hours.
Finally—and this is probably one of those "that plus $5 will buy you a cup of coffee" things—but I have 31 hours Level C MD-80 from a Continental internship and 16 hours Level D with Flight Safety as part of my ERAU degree.
Originally Posted by
JohnBurke
Government positions seem more concerned with a specific number of hours in the last six or twelve months, but some companies do ask.
If you're going for an airline position, most will ask if you're current; as you've noted, legally current (IPC, flight review), as well as technically current and proficient, is what they're after. An interview that features a simulator check will verify basic skills.
In most cases, if I evaluate a pilot, I know most of what I need to know before we ever get to an airplane or a simulator. With this in mind, be current on all things job-related. Be able to answer ATP-level questions and know instrument charts, airspace, regulations, and so forth, fluidly. Flying is much like riding a bike (albeit more difficult to place baseball cards in the spokes, as they say), but there's a level of familiarity and ease in talking the talk, as well as walking the walk, which will come through in an interview. Read up and brush up to be ready.
Regionals hire very inexperienced pilots. You don't need to be the ace fo the base, but you do need to be competent and ready, and as you noted, it's largely about your comfort level. Someone else can sign you off for a proficiency check or flight review, but only you know when the rust is sufficiently scrubbed.
I appreciate your thoughtful answer. That's what I'm thinking, and I feel comfortable that I can reach that level and be realistic in assessing myself in having done so. I was regarded as a knowledgeable instructor and did well academically in Riddle and afterward (summa and a top law school—though once again that and $5...). Mostly I want to be sure there isn't some sort of unpublicized filter that will suppress my application in the software or widely known unwritten rule of the nature "everyone knows you need 50 hours in the last six months."